Hello to you all,
A cheer for our full summer of August weather as I hope you are too enjoying. August marks the spirit of summer in full as I find everything comes to be under the sun with the same intensity of which it shines.
To be in alignment with the late summer weather we do ourselves well to take inventory of this intensity and see how it can feed our spirit of health.
According to Chinese Medicine the late-summer (Earth element) is a transitional season taking us from heat, active Yang slowly into the cooling Yin, energy of the fall. The intensity of the heat acts as a catalyst of movement of energy through the body at rapid pace while our is in its prime we do ourselves well to consider how it can be affecting our body internally and what we can do to support it.
The Earth Element organs stomach and spleen are most active in late-summer.
The stomach secretes acids and enzymes for churning the food. The spleen the largest organ in the lymphatic is balancing fluids and filtering the blood as it passes through supporting the immune system. So support for our digestive and lymphatic systems is key.
Here are some tips:
Food- Naturally our desires for foods that cool along with our sweet tooth’s come together during this season which can overtire our digestive system and leave us lethargic. So to address this look to eating foods that cool, bring moisture and have lightly sweet tastes watermelon or cantaloupe for fruits and veggies like beets, zucchini and cucumbers.
Exercise– Get moving- of course this is always something we should do but anything that supports blood flow is great and good stretches to extend and elongate our spleen energy-muscles that can become tight and rigid. An early morning workout will target spleen active period. A lymphatic massage afterwards can be a nice treat. Along with this before you hit the shower do a full body skin brush or skin rub to remove toxins and increase blood flow.
Meditations- Give yourself a chance to be still. Observe the nature of heat on the body and be mindful of your mood, energy and level of attention as it fluctuates through your day as you engage in the heat bearing activities of your day. Give your mind a cool down from the worries relax from the days events as you would your body.
Enjoy your August light.
In health,
Safara
